Padamshri Shamshad Begum

Once a fight was fought against the land mafia alone, today 'Shamshad Begum', who made women self-reliant by educating women, was honored with the Padma Shri

Who says women are weak. If a woman is determined to do any work, she can make the impossible possible. A direct example of this is Shamshad Begum, a resident of Balod district of Chhattisgarh. Who not only worked for the upliftment of women but also raised his voice single-handedly to remove the evils spread in the society. He did the work of making women self-reliant and has also fought alone against people like land mafia. She along with her colleagues have made 12,269 illiterate women literate. In view of his social work, the Government of India has honored him with the Padma Shri. It was not so easy for Shamshad Begum to do the work of uplifting the society alone. Let's know the inspirational journey of his life.

Dedicated her life to improve the society

Born in a small village in Balod district of Chhattisgarh, Shamshad Begum is recognized all over the world today. Shamshad Begum got an opportunity to join the National Literacy Mission program of the Government of India and this paved the way for her entry into social service. She, along with her colleagues, worked to make 12,269 illiterate women literate within six months of the commencement of mission activities at Gundardehi in 1995. Seeing the evils prevailing in the society, he devoted his entire life to uplift the society.

raised voice against social evils

Shamshad Begum has done many works to remove the evils spread in the society like fighting against illegal land encroachment and closing liquor shops etc. Not only this, he established 1041 self-help groups in Balod district. These groups, along with their small savings, have accumulated a corpus from where members in need can get loans for domestic emergencies. The total savings of these groups exceed US$2 million.

made women self reliant

Shamshad Begum started doing many things to make women self-reliant. He started a small bank with his own groups. With the money of whose savings, she was successful in setting up cottage industries like making soap and making wheels for bullock carts. He provided employment to many women. He has also established a Mahila Bhavan. She is also associated with the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) for training in women's leadership skills and creating awareness against sexual discrimination, child marriage and molestation prevention.

training of women commandos

Shamshad Begum has also done the work of preparing women commandos. For which his name also went for the Nobel Prize. When the women commandos trained by him, with sticks in their hands, wearing red saris and red caps, whistling through the village, the whispers of good miscreants turn into a tizzy. These women commandos have tried to eliminate illegal activities like alcohol, speculation, gambling, social evils etc. in rural areas by their actions. In view of these works of women commandos, all the people of the World Peace Committee-202 countries, who arrived from Indonesia and Malaysia, had greatly appreciated the work of women commandos.

 The way Shamshad Begum prepared this lady commando and worked with a new energy, the amount of praise she deserves is less. He has written his success story on the basis of his hard work and dedication. Shamshad Begum is an inspiration for millions of people today.